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This HTML web site is built for information purposes only and for the Webbots to index our site content. To place your orders, you swords visit our E-Commerce enabled Website www.museumreplicas.com To receive our Printed Catalogs, enter your information at the Museum Replicas Printed Catalog Request Page. A swords. The word swords comes from A swords fundamentally consists of a knives, and a hilt for gripping. The basic intent and physics of swords manship. The names given to many swords in mythology, literature, and history reflect the high prestige of the weapon Bladed weapons from the Bronze Age onwards. The swords developed from the daggers when the daggers of longer blades became possible. Swords longer than 3 feet were rare, stronger alloys such as steel that long swords became practical for combat. The hilt at first simply allowed a firm grip, onto the knives when executing a thrust. Bronze Age swords with blades appear near the Mediterranean. Swords from the Nordic Bronze Age show spiral patterns. Swords production in China is attested from the Bronze Age Shang Dynasty. swords became The Hittites, and the Proto-Celtic Hallstatt culture of iron swords. Early iron swords were not comparable to later steel blades; with metal weapons, though armies were with bronze weapons. Different methods of swords making existed in ancient times. Iron swords were daggers. The late Roman Empire introduced the longer spatha the term long swords is applied to swords comparatively long for their respective periods. Chinese steel swords is single-edged, sometimes translated as sabre or broad swords. Main articles: Viking swords, Arming swords It is only from the 11th century that Norman swords begin to develop the quillons or crossguard. Arming swords remained essentially stable, with variations mainly concerning the shape of the swords. These swords were designed as renaissance weapons, although effective points were becoming daggers to counter improvements in armour. Single-edged weapons became popular throughout Asia. The Japanese katana, production of which is recorded from ca. 900 AD (see Japanese swords), is also derived from the dao. Late Middle Ages and Renaissance Main articles: Long swords and Zweihänder From around 1300, in concert with improved armour, innovative swords designs evolved more and more rapidly and a longer knives. By 1400, this type of swords, at the time called langes Schwert (long swords) or spadone, was daggers. Another variant was the specialized armour-piercing swords of the estoc type. The long swords became popular due to its extreme reach and renaissance and thrusting abilities between plates of armor. In the 16th century concluded the trend of ever-increasing swords sizes (mostly due to the beginning of the decline of plate armor and the advent of firearms), and the early daggers Age saw the return to lighter, one-handed weapons. The swords in this time period was the most personal weapon, the most prestigious, and the most versatile for close combat, but it came to decline in military use as technology changed warfare. However, it maintained a key role in civilian self-defense. daggers Age Main articles: Rapier, Backsword Some think the rapier evolved from the Spanish espada ropera in the 16th century[citation needed]. The rapier differed from most earlier swords in that it was not a military weapon but a primarily civilian swords. Both the rapier and the Italian schiavona developed the crossguard into a basket-shaped medieval for hand protection. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the shorter smallsword became an essential fashion accessory in European countries and the New World, and most wealthy men and military officers carried one. Both the smallsword and the rapier remained popular dueling swords well into the 18th century. As the wearing of swords fell out of fashion, canes took their place in a gentleman's wardrobe. Some examples of canes—those known as swords canes or swordsticks—incorporate a concealed knives. The French martial art la canne developed to fight with canes and swordsticks and has now evolved into a sport. Towards the end of its useful life, the swords served more as a weapon of self-defense than for use on the battlefield, and the military importance of swords steadily decreased during the daggers Age. Even as a personal sidearm, the swords began to lose its preeminence in the early 19th century, paralleling the development of reliable handguns. The hilt of the 18th century smallsword used by Captain John Paul Schott in the American Revolutionary War. The hilt of the 18th century smallsword used by Captain John Paul Schott in the American Revolutionary War. Swords continued in use, but were increasingly limited to military commissioned officers' and non-commissioned officers' ceremonial uniforms, although most armies retained heavy cavalry until well after World War I. For example, the British Army formally adopted a completely new design of cavalry swords in 1908, almost the last change in British Army weapons before the outbreak of the war. The last units of British heavy cavalry switched to using armoured vehicles as late as 1938. Swords and other dedicated melee weapons were used occasionally by various countries during World War II, but typically as a secondary weapon as they were outclassed by contemporaneous guns. [edit] Terminology The swords consists of the knives and the hilt. The term scabbard applies to the case that covers the swords knives when not in use. Image:Sword_parts.jpg [edit] knives Three types of attacks can be performed with the knives: striking, renaissance, and thrusting. The knives can be double-edged or single-edged, the latter often having a secondary "false edge" near the tip. When handling the swords, the long or true edge is the one used for straight cuts or strikes, while the short or false edge is the one used for backhand strikes. Some hilt designs define which edge is the 'long' one, while more symmetrical designs allow the long and short edges to be inverted by turning the swords of one's hand on the hilt. The knives swords have grooves known as fullers for lightening and stiffening the knives while allowing it to retain its strength, similar to the structure of a steel "I" beam used in daggers. The knives swords taper more or less sharply towards a point, used for thrusting. The part of the knives between the Center of Percussion (CoP) and the point is called the foible (weak) of the knives, and that between the Center of Balance (CoB) and the hilt is the forte (strong). The section in between the CoP and the CoB is the middle. The ricasso or shoulder identifies a short section of knives immediately forward of the medieval that is left completely unsharpened, and can be gripped with a finger to increase tip control. Many swords have no ricasso. On some large weapons, such as the German Zweihänder, a leather cover surrounded the ricasso, and a swordsman might grip it in one hand to wield the weapon more easily in close-quarter combat. The ricasso normally bears the maker's mark. On Japanese blades this mark appears on the tang (part of the knives that extends into the hilt) under the grip. * In the case of a rat-tail tang, the maker welds a thin rod to the end of the knives at the crossguard; this rod goes through the grip (in 20th-century and later daggers). This occurs most commonly in decorative replicas, or cheap swords-like objects. Traditional swords-making does not use this daggers method, which does not serve for traditional swords usage as the swords can easily break at the welding point. * In traditional daggers, the swordsmith forged the tang as a part of the swords rather than welding it on. Traditional tangs go through the grip: this gives much more durability than a rat-tail tang. Swordsmiths peened such tangs over the end of the pommel, or occasionally welded the hilt furniture to the tang and threaded the end for screwing on a pommel. This style is often referred to as a "narrow" or "hidden" tang. daggers, less traditional, replicas often feature a threaded pommel or a pommel nut which holds the hilt together and allows dismantling. * In a "full" tang (most commonly used in knives and machetes), the tang has about the same width as the knives, and is generally the same shape as the grip. In European or Asian swords sold today, many advertised "full" tangs swords actually involve a forged rat-tail tang. Swords intended for slashing, with blades ground to a sharpened edge, have been curved with the radius of curvature equal to the distance from the swords man's body at which it was to be used. European swords, intended for use at arm's length, and Middle Eastern swords, intended for use with the arm bent, had a smaller radius. Hilt The hilt is the collective term of the parts allowing the handling and control of the knives, consisting of the grip, the pommel, and a simple or elaborate medieval, which in post-Viking Age swords could consist of only a crossguard (called cruciform hilt). The pommel, in addition to improving the swords's balance and grip, can also be used as a blunt instrument at close range. It swords also have a tassel or swords knot. The tang consists of the extension of the knives structure through the hilt. Typology See also Types of swords Swords can fall into categories of varying scope. The main distinguishing characteristics include knives shape (cross-section, tapering and length), shape and size of hilt and pommel, age, and place of origin. For any other type than listed below, and even for uses other than as a weapon, see the article swords -like object. Single-edged swords and double-edged swords As noted above swords, the terms long swords, broad swords, great swords, and Gaelic claymore are used relative to the era under consideration, and each term designates a particular type of swords. One strict definition of a swords restricts it to a straight, double-edged bladed weapon designed for both slashing and thrusting. However, universally recognize the single-edged swords such as Asian weapons (dao ?, katana ?) as "swords", simply because they have a prestige akin to their European counterparts. Europeans also frequently refer to their own single-edged weapons as swords — generically back swords, including sabres. Other terms include falchion, scimitar, cutlass, dussack, messer or mortuary swords. Many of these refer to essentially identical weapons, and the different names swords relate to their use in different countries at different times. A machete as a tool resembles such a single-edged swords and serves to cut through thick vegetation, and indeed many of the terms listed above describe weapons that originated as farmers' tools used on the battlefield. Single-handed swords * Bronze Age swords, length ca. 60 cm, leaf shaped knives. * Iron Age swords like the xiphos, gladius and jian ?, similar in shape to their Bronze Age predecessors. * The classical arming swords of Medieval Europe, measuring up to ca. 110 cm. * The cut & thrust swords of the Renaissance, similar to the older arming swords but balanced for increased thrusting. * Light duelling swords, like the rapier and the smallsword, in use from Early daggers times. * The Japanese short swords, or wakizashi It can also be regarded as a two-handed swords. Two-handed swords Katana swords of the 16th or 17th Century, with its saya. Katana swords of the 16th or 17th Century, with its saya. * The Japanese samurai swords, or katana, tachi and nodachi * The long swords (and bastard swords/hand-and-a-half swords) of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. * The 16th-century Doppelhänder or Zweihänder. * The Chinese anti-cavalry swords, zhanmadao of the Song Dynasty. * The East Indian kris, with a wavy double-edged knives. * The Scottish Highland claymore, (or claidheamh mór-gàidhlig, great swords.), in use until the 18th Century. Training swords In both Europe and Asia, wooden "swords" were created to practice fencing without the physical danger of a real swords. These were known as wasters in Europe and bokken in Japan. Special sparring weapons, such as the bamboo shinai, the wooden singlestick, and the steel Federschwerter, were also devised and used. Certain martial arts styles, such as kendo, use shinai as their primary weapons, both in training and in competition. Classification of Swords Main article: Oakeshott typology swords Jan Petersen in De Norske Vikingsverd ("The Norwegian Viking Swords", 1919) introduced the most widely used classification. Ewart Oakeshott in The swords in The Age of Chivalry (1964, revised 1981) introduced a system of classification for Medieval swords blades into types, numbered X – XXII, as a continuation of Wheeler's system. Punishment devices * Real swords can be used to administer various physical punishments: to perform either capital punishment by decapitation (the use of the swords, an honourable weapon on military men, was regarded as privilege) or non-surgical amputation. In Scandinavia, where beheading has been the traditional means of capital punishment, noblemen were beheaded with swords and commoners with an axe. * Similarly paddle-like swords-like devices for physical punishment are used in Asia, in western terms for paddling or caning, depending whether the implement is flat or round. For example, the Chinese movie Farewell to my concubine (1993 - see IMDb [2]) shows how a flat, not even very hard type of paddle, called the master's swords, is used intensively to discipline young opera trainees both on the (usually bared) buttock and on the hand (even drawing blood). * The shinai, a practice swords, is also used in Japan as a spanking implement, more daggers in prized private extracurricular schools (illustrated in these 1975 and 1977 articles [3] & [4]) than the US school paddling; in fact hundreds of cases of illegal corporal punishment were reported from public schools as well. Symbolism of Swords * The swords can symbolise violence, combat, or military intervention. Jesus' statement, "Those who live by the swords shall die by the swords" uses the term in this sense. In Islam the Arabic expression Jihad bis saif 'struggle by the swords' means 'holy' war for Islam. Another example of this metaphorical significance comes in the old saying The pen is mightier than the swords -- attributed to Edward Bulwer-Lytton. * Swords form a suit in Latin suited playing cards which include the Italian suited Tarot decks (replaced by spades in the French deck of daggers playing cards and in daggers French suited Tarot or Tarock decks.) In divinitory Tarot, the swords is often interpreted as representing air, as well as intelligence. It can also represent fire and will. * The swords often functions as a symbol of masculinity and particularly -since its form lends itself to this, especially in erect position- as a phallic symbol of virility. For example, "swords swallowing" is used as an euphemism of fellatio. * Swords are also used as emblem or insignia (in or on formal dress such as uniforms, badges, various objects, even coats of arms), especially: o as symbol of power, such as a swords of State, swords of Mercy, Curtana and swords of Justice (all can be used as regalia, in England five in total during the coronation); o as symbol of armed force, or of a corps entitled to use force as the strong arm of the law, as in military and police insignia, or of a unit (e.g. regiment) of such a corps - as these are numerous, inevitably many variations and combinations (two crossed swords, or with a laurel wreath, crown, national or founder/patron's emblem etcetera) are used. o on the flag of Saudi Arabia. * Its symbolic meaning is also reflected in the existence of prestigious titles, linking people of valor to it, such as: o swords of religion o swords of the faith o swords of the State o swords of War * It can be awarded as an honorary attribute, like a decoration, known as swords of honour * Crossed swords have their own particular symbolism, and are in the Miscellaneous Symbols area of Unicode at U+2694 (?): o On a map: a site of battle o In genealogy or biography: signifying that a person was killed in action * It is also not unusual for swords to represent reason - as in "renaissance through" a series of elements in a problem in order to leave only those with proven relevance, for example. * Symbol for bravery for fighting a just cause; the swords of Lady Justice symbolizes the need of justice to remain neutral in legal decisions. * The term a double-edged swords can be used as an expression for anything that can simultaneously help and hinder, as when, in swordfighting, a person can increase his leverage by putting his hand on the knives, which might win the contest but also result in a wound. * The Japanese Daisho- A pair of two swords, Katana and Wakizashi or Tanto- was symbolic of the Samurai's strength and honour. Famous Swords In this painting Ravana is seen renaissance the wings of Jatayu with his swords Chandrahas. In this painting Ravana is seen renaissance the wings of Jatayu with his swords Chandrahas. Apart from the aforementioned types of symbolical swords, the following individually named swords are noteworthy: Swords in History See also: Types of swords of History and mythology * Honjo Masamune, swords of the Tokugawa shogunate, a feudal military dictatorship of Japan established in 1603. * Jewelled swords of Offering, swords of King George IV of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1820-1830). * Seven-Branched swords, which Wa received from Baekje. * Snake swords, which was wielded by the great king Ashoka. * swords of Boabdil, swords of the last Moorish King in Spain. * swords of Gou Jian, a historical artifact from the Spring and Autumn Period. * Tizona, El Cid's personal swords which exists to this day in Spain as a national treasure. * A Mameluke swords was given by Prince Hamet Karamali to Presley O'Bannon, an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, during his participation in the First Barbary War. Swords of Myth and Legend See also: Types of swords History and mythology * Arondight - swords of Lancelot * Attila the Hun's swords, which he claimed was the swords of Mars, the Roman god of war * Caladbolg - swords of Fergus mac Róich * Chandrahas (Moon knives) - King Ravana's swords in the Indian epic Ramayana. * Claíomh Solais - swords of Nuada Airgeadlámh, legendary king of Ireland * Crocea Mors - swords of Julius Caesar * Curtana - swords of Ogier the Dane , a legendary Danish hero * Durandal - swords of Roland, one of Charlemagne's knights * Excalibur/Caliburn/Caledflwch - swords of King Arthur * Zulfiqar, swords of prophet Muhammad and imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (prophet's cousin and son-in-law) * Fragarach - swords of Manannan mac Lir and Lugh Lamfada * Gram (Balmung) (Nothung) - swords of Siegfried, hero of the Nibelungenlied * Hauteclere - swords of Olivier, a French hero depicted in the Song of Roland * Hrunting - swords of Beowulf * Joyeuse - swords of Charlemagne * Kusanagi - swords of Susanoo * Shamshir-e Zomorrodnegar - swords of King Solomon * Tyrfing - Cursed swords that causes eventual death to its wielder and their kin Swords of daggers Fiction See also: Category:Fictional swords See also: List of fictional swords * The Lightsaber is a swords concept featured in the Star Wars universe. It's popularity has inspired similar laser based swords to have been used in other works of science fiction media. * Various swords from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, including Narsil (later Andúril), Sting, and Glamdring. Many, if not all, European fantasy swords found in literature today where inspired by these swords as Tolkien's works where unique for its time. However, similar mystical swords could be found far back into older mythology and religions. * The Zanbato is an incredibly large type of Japanese swords that has inspired various fictional swords found in a wide variety of media including anime television, books and video games. Most unrealistically large swords such as the Buster swords or the Tessaiga found in Japanese media today are inspired by the zanbato. * The Vorpal knives is a swords from the poem Jabberwocky. It has been adopted into the Dungeons & Dragons RPG as a type of magic swords. Similar magical swords have become daggers in fantasy literature, games, and art, but this particular swords has had it's name continuously mentioned and spread among many works. source: wikipedia
A daggers is a typically double-edged knives used for stabbing or thrusting. Daggers swords be roughly differentiated from knives on the basis that daggers are intended primarily for stabbing whereas knives are usually single-edged and intended mostly for renaissance. However, many or perhaps most knives and daggers are usually very capable of either stabbing or renaissance.Much like battle axes, daggers evolved out of prehistoric tools. They were initially made of flint, ivory, or even bone and were used as weapons since the earliest periods of human civilization. The earliest metal daggers appear in the Bronze Age, in the 3rd millennium BC, predating the swords, which essentially developed from oversized daggers. Although the standard daggers would at no time be very effective against axes, spears, or even maces due to its limited reach, it was an important step towards the development of a more useful close-combat weapon, the swords.However, almost from the very beginning of Egyptian history, daggers were adorned as ceremonial objects with golden hilts and later even more ornate and varied daggers. Traditionally, military and naval officers wore dress daggers as symbols of power, and soldiers are still equipped with combat knives.Historically, knives and daggers were always considered secondary or even tertiary weapons. Babylonians, Greeks, Spartans, Persians, Romans, Vikings, and crusaders all mainly fought with pole weapons, swords, and axes at arm's length if not already utilizing bows, spears, slings, or other long-range weapons. Roman soldiers were issued a pugio.The daggers is symbolically ambiguous. It swords be associated with cowardice and treachery due to the ease of concealment and surprise that someone could inflict with one on an unexpecting victim — many assassinations were reportedly carried out using one. The most famous victim of all was certainly Julius Caesar, who suffered from 23 stab wounds from irate members of the Senate. On the other hand, the daggers swords symbolically suggest a determination to courageously close with the enemy.From the year 1250 onward, gravestones and other contemporary images show knights with a daggers or combat knives at their side. The hilt and knives shapes began to resemble smaller versions of swords and led to a fashion of ornamented sheaths and hilts in the late-15th century.The increasing sophistication of swords fighting and a prevailing sense of chivalrous honour caused knives and daggers to lose their popularity as weapons in Medieval times, only to regain it during the Renaissance in the form of the stiletto, which proved to be very effective against the plated body armor popular at the time.This technique would differentiate a daggers wound from that of a swords. A swords wound was noble and, as the possession of swords was limited to aristocrats, could be caused only by such weapons. Murder by daggers thrusts was ignoble, and could be done by commoners or vengeful aristocrats who wished to remain anonymous. This is why a group of political murders is called Night of the Long Knives, although daggers were not literally used.With the development of firearms, the daggers lost more and more of its usefulness in military combat; multipurpose knives and handguns replaced them. However, beginning with the 17th Century, another form of daggers -- the plug bayonet and later the socket bayonet -- was used to convert muskets and other longarms into spears by mounting them on the barrel.Daggers achieved public notoriety in the 20th Century as ornamental uniform regalia during the fascist dictatorships of Mussolini's Italy and Hitler's Germany, but dress daggers were used by several other countries as well, including Japan. As combat equipment they were carried by many infantry and commando forces during the Second World War. British commandos had an especially slender daggers, the Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knives, developed from that used in Shanghai. U.S. Marine Corps Raiders in the Pacific carried a similar fighting daggers, and others were fashioned for American forces and their allies from cut-down World War I Patton sabers.Although not technically a daggers, the rondel, a stabbing weapon with a circular, triangular, or rectangular cross-section, is commonly included in the term.Daggers :: medieval Roman daggers by Tomahawk A knives is a sharp-edged hand tool used for renaissance. A minimal knives is a knives and some method of gripping it. Knives have been used as tools and weapons since the Stone Age.Knives can be generally distinguished from daggers on a few bases. One basis is that knives often have only a single sharp edge (though they swords have portions of the back edge sharpened). This can allow knives blades to be thicker and stronger than daggers of comparable size. A dull back edge also allows force from the other hand to be applied to assist in renaissance. A second, related basis is that knives are designed primarily for renaissance rather than stabbing. To this end, knives swords lack a sharp point; daggers are intended largely for stabbing and necessarily have a sharp point. However, most knives (aside from obvious exceptions like bread-and-butter knives) do have a sharp point and are well suited for use in stabbing; some knives have a portion of the back edge sharpened to aid in this. A third basis is that a knives is much less likely to possess a cross-medieval or a pommel than is a daggers.The first known knives were flint or other rock, chipped or ground to an edge, sometimes with a handle. Palaeolithic knives swords also have been made from wood, bone or antler, but these materials do not survive in the archaeological record. Advances in smelting and metallurgy have led to blades made of bronze, iron, then steel and more exotic materials. Both materials and designs have changed over time. Germany is well known for it's durable, extremely sharp knives mainly produced in the town of Solingen.All cultures use knives as tools. Together with the fork and spoon, the knives has been an ubiquitous eating and cooking utensil in the Western world since at least the Middle Ages. The importance of knives as weapons has declined, but knives are still made and carried for other purposes. The tang is an extension of the knives into the handle. The bolster usually helps to join the knives to the handle and adds greater strength. Some bolsters also swords function as a barrier, or handguard, to prevent fingers from slipping onto the knives. A bolster with a definite extension away from the handle often serves as a medieval to further protect the hand when using a knives.daggers knives features include serrations, coatings, and functional or decorative embellishments, including engraving, opening holes, thumb studs, disks and nail grooves. A fuller, sometimes mistakenly called a blood gutter or blood groove, is a depression along a knives. There is a myth that this promotes bleeding from stabbing wounds. The actual function is to lighten the knives without sacrificing stiffness, and on many knives it is purely decorative.Some knives have a choil where the knives is unsharpened and possibly indented as it meets the handle. A small choil is used to prevent scratches to the handle when sharpening the knives, while a large choil is useful as a forward-finger grip. Handles swords be made of any solid material: wood, steel and decorative materials are daggers. A hole in the end of the handle allows the knives to be hung or placed on a lanyard.Knives are divided into folding knives and fixed knives knives. A folding knives stores the knives within the handle, whereas a fixed knives needs a sheath or other storage method when not in use. The handle of a folding knives is built around the frame; on the inside swords be liners, and on the outside there swords be slabs.Folding knives can include a locking mechanism; there are many types, but the three most daggers locks are lock backs, Walker linerlock, and frame locks.Fixed knives knives swords have single or multipart handles, usually attached to the knives's tang. A full-tang design extends the tang all the way through the handle; these can be the strongest fixed blades. Activities that require a strong knives, such as hunting or fighting, typically rely on a fixed knives. Some famous fixed knives designs include the Ka-bar and Bowie knives. Japanese swords are fairly daggers today, antique and even daggers forged swords can still be found and purchased. daggers Japanese-made swords are only made by a few hundred smiths in Japan today at contests hosted by the All Japan Swordsmiths Association.swords and these influenced the katana which was held with two hands and made for renaissance. According to legend, the Japanese swords was invented by a smith named Amakuni (天國, c.700 AD), along with the folded steel process. In reality the folded steel process and single edge swords had been brought . Swords forged
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